Jacob reese



J. REESE.

' Machine for Making Fish Bars for Railroad Raiis.

Patented June 18, 1867.

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JACOB REESE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVAN IA."

Letters Patent No. 65,831, dated June 18, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR MAKING FISH-BARS FOR RAILROAD RAILS.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JACOB REESE, of the city of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Fish-Bars for Railroads; and I do hereby declare the following to a full, clear, and exact description thererf, reference being bad to :the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which i m Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine for making fish-bars" Figure 2 is a front elevation, with the front casing removed, showing the position of the devices at or near the end of the upward movement of the punches audupper die, and i .Figure 3 is a view similar to that shown in fig. 2, except that the devices are drawn. in the position they occuoy at or near the other end of the stroke. 7

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

The nature of my invention consists in an improved mode of manufacturing what are commonly known as fish-bars for railroad joints, and in the construction of a machine" for sh ping, punching, and cutting such bars at one and the same operation. As commonly made, fish-bars are from. twenty to twenty-two inches in length, with their outer faces flat and about two and one-half inches in breadth, and their inner faces sufiiciently convex to-fit the concave surface of thewreb of the rail. They are. uscdvtoconnect or joint together the adjacent ends of rails in a railroad track, and are bolted to such ends, and one ou-eachsidc of the rails, by bolts passing through them and through the webs of the rails. Such bolts are usually four in number to each pair of bars, and the bolt-holes are commonly so punched that the outer holes shall be each about three inches from the end of the bar, and each of the other two about seven inches. The joint of the rails, of course, comes between the middle holes, and about equidistant from each. The bolts are usually about nine-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, and the bolt-holes of size to correspond, except through the web of the rails, where they are made oblong, longitudinally with the rail, to allow for the expansion and contraction of the rail eaused byvarying degreesof temperature. These dimensions are usually followed so as to secure uniformity; and my machine, as I generally construct it, is adapted to make bars of such size and form, though I 'do not limit my invention thereto.

To enable others skilled'in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation. c

a is an axle, one end running in bearings b, which rest on the plumber-blocks b, the other end alsorcsting on a plumber-block, or on bearings inserted in the frame of the mach-inc. On this axle a is the pulleys, flywheel cl, and pinion e. By a belt passing over the pulley e, or in other convenient manner, motion is communicated, which, by the pinion e, operates the gear-whcelf, and this, by the shaft g, operates the cams ZZ rigidly attached thereto. The cams Z Z work in cam-yokes m m respectively, the cams and yokes being so fitted to each other as to secure the motions.hereinafter to be described. These cam-yokes m m usually are parts of sliding frames or slides n n, which play up and down with each revolution of the cams Z 1. Attached to the lower end of one slide n is a die, 0, working against its corresponding die ofwhich rests, with any necessary degree of solidity, 0n the framework of the machine, or on any other desirable foundation. The working faces of the dies 0 o are made of the shape of the fish-bar to be manufactured. Commonly the upper die 0 has an under face,,which is flat transversely, to correspond to the outer face of the desired bar; and the lower die 0 a has a groove, s, which is concave transversely, and which answers to the shape to be given to the inner face of the fish-bar to be manufactured. Both the dies 0 o I make either straight or curvedlongitudinally, so 'as to make the fish-bars either straight or curved, as may he preferred. Between the dies 0 a, and in. the groove 8, the iron bars to be worked up, either hot from the rolls or subsequently heated, are pressed into the shape required for the fish-bars, the necessary motion for that purpose being imparted to the die 0 by the cam device above described.

At or about the moment the dies 0 0 have properly completed the shaping process, as above described, or more commonly a little before, according toth'e shape and adjustment of the cams I Z in their cam-yokes m or, the cam l causes a downward movement-ofthe slide it, in the lower end of which, and at the required distances from each other and from the ends of the die 0, are the punches s s, of thevnuinber, size, and arrangement necessary to punch the bolt-holes required in the fish-bar. Such punches snsually project downwards through the upper die 0, at such points and in such direction as to pass throughthe groove 8 in the vertical plane passing through or near its axis. With the downward movement of the slide 11/, as above mentioned, the punches s are driven through the heated bar, thus punching at a single stroke the required number of bolt-holes in each bar, and in the required order. The com Z is adjusted on the shaft g, so as to operate'in its yoke m, a little in advance of the cam], and the two are so shaped that while the cam Z", operating against the upper partof its yoke 1n, raises the slide it and punches s, the other cam Z, pressing against the lower part of its yoke m, holds the die 0 firmly down, and retains the bar, after it is punched, in the groove 8, until the punches s are withdrawn. The com Z then raises the other slide n and the die 0, and the bar is released. The operator then pushes it forward until its end strikes the gauge 3, adjusted to the proper length for that purpose. .Then, with the renewal'of the downward stroke, as above explained, not only is another fish-bar pressed and punched, but also the bar already formed is cut oil by the knife :n attached to the die 0. Thus, for every revolution of the cams Z Z, I shape, punch, and cut oil a fish-bar complete, and continue the work at plea-sure without liability to interruption. But in order to punch four holes at once, it is necessary that the iron should be hot, partly because the punching is then more easily done, but especially because it has been found impracticable, not to say impossible, to punch four holes of that-size and so near together, through a single bar of cold iron, without serious injury to the iron itself by affecting its granular structure. By punching it hot I avoid such difficulty. At the same time, when the iron is hot the lower face of the bar to be worked up is more easily pressed into. the shape required by the groove 8. i v

I do not limit myself, in my invention, to making fish-bars of any particular shape or number of bolt-holes, though I consider the shape, number, and arrangement above set forth to be the most practicable and best. The length and forms of the dies 0 9 may be varied at pleasure; also the groove .3, and the number. size and arrangement of the punches s, and also the length of the gauge 3/.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

he combination of the moving die-0 and stationary grooved die 0 with the punchcs's 5-, operating and arranged substantially as described, for the purpose of pressing, punching, and bending fish-barsat one operation.

In testimony whereof, I, the said JACOB REESE, have hereunto set my hand in presence of- JACOB REESE.

Witnesses! W. BAKEWELL, A. S.- Nrenotsos. 

